Hi Friends! I haven’t been able to post an update for a long time because for some reason it would not let me! I kept checking and trying but it hasn't been working this past month. Its working again now so hopefully there will be regular posts again!
I’ve had the privilege of going to Tijuana Mexico a few times since being here. The first time I went with a friend to spend the afternoon playing with kids at an orphanage. I also went twice this past week because I was training a group of Mexican youth at a local church in some of the DRIME dramas. On the 30th there is a large outreach event happening in Tijuana which DRIME has been invited to minister at. The DRIME San Diego team will be doing ministry and this group of youth will be joining us!
I thoroughly enjoyed the hours I spent training the youth in the dramas! None of them spoke English so I had two friends come to translate for me! I can’t describe the joy it brought me to be training people who don’t speak English! It reminded me of my time in Benin, which brought part of the excitement but there is something about passing on this tool across language barriers that is exhilarating for me! It adds an element of challenge to the process of training the dramas, which I find enjoyable. Because of the extra challenge there is an even bigger sense of accomplishment at the end when the team has learned the dramas! It just brings me so much joy and excitement - because now this group of youth have another tool they can use to share the Gospel with their friends, families and neighbours.
I also love trying to learn a new language! I’m torn between continuing to work on my French or trying to learn Spanish. From the drama training I learned how to count to 8 in Spanish – a very helpful thing when training – as well as a few other words. I love it when the youth giggle at me because I’ve said the wrong word – or I’ve said the right word but it just sounds funny because I have no Spanish accent! I’ve discovered that trying to speak a language you don't know is a way to bond with people who don’t speak English.
Speaking of people giggling at me…apparently we Canadians do have a pronounced accent. I did not realize this before - but people like to smile and sometimes outright laugh whenever I say ‘out’ or ‘about.’ I don’t hear any difference in how I say it and they say it but apparently there is one. People also giggle at me when I say I’m going to use the washroom. There are no washrooms here….just bathrooms and restrooms. I don’t know why by washroom is always the first word that comes to mind for me!
Well – that’s all for today folks! Hope you enjoyed this peak into my life here in San Diego! If you think of it, please pray for DRIME San Diego as we are ministering in Mexico this Saturday the 30th as well as ministering on Sunday the 31st at ‘Fall Fest’ - a community outreach my church is putting on.
If you are interested in receiving my newsletter which comes out every 2 months please send me your email address [janna@drime.com] and I’ll make sure you get it! It has different stories and info in it from what I put in my blog posts!
It's Halloween time at the Boldt house!
Here I am training the drama "It's My Life" to a group of youth in Tijuana!
More training....teaching the person playing the role of Jesus how to be lowered.
The wonderful group of youth I got to work with!
It's so fun watching them perform the whole drama after a few hours of training!
Bet you can't guess what this is!